<Begin Segment 17>

RY: And at that time I remember my dad, I guess he must have been in some organization because he got picked up and stuck in... they took him to another camp. I don't know if it was... oh, for --

TI: You mean like a Department of Justice Camp like Santa Fe or --

RY: I think it was Santa Fe but they stuck him in there.

TI: I think some were Bismarck also, Bismarck and Santa Fe.

RY: I think it was in Bismarck. But he got picked up and he was gone for about a year so it was just my mom and us.

TI: And how did that make you feel, that they picked up your father and took him to another camp?

RY: I was just wondering, I was thinking I don't know what he did wrong, you know. I never did find out 'cause he wouldn't tell me. But I just didn't understand why they did that. But then I guess if you join a certain organization that was disloyal, I guess then you went.

TI: Yeah, I think what they did was lot of the leaders of those organizations, it's not that they did anything wrong, but it was more by being part of these organizations.

RY: But I didn't think, I didn't really think he was a leader, but maybe he was.

TI: And how long did you participate in these activities, the exercises the running?

RY: Oh, 'til we went to Japan.

TI: So are you talking about weeks or months or what was that?

RY: It was probably months.

TI: And how about the boys who didn't participate, who didn't shave their head, the hair off their head and things like that? I mean how were they treated at Tule Lake?

RY: They were treated okay, I mean, you know.

TI: 'Cause you mentioned the peer pressure, I mean was there peer pressure to try to get them to join?

RY: Well, what at that time when I was in Tule Lake, I was hanging around the people from San Pedro. And they were more inclined to be pro-Japan so I think that's what happened to me.

TI: They also had a reputation for being pretty rough and tough, too.

RY: Oh, yeah, they were rough and tough and they were... but they treated me good. As a matter of fact, when I went to Japan I went to visit a couple of them because we all went back on the same boat, so we became good friends.

TI: So even though they were rough and tough, you weren't afraid of them?

RY: No, like I said, I guess I'm fairly easy to get along with. [Laughs]

TI: Now did they ever do anything that surprised you? Like rough and tough, I mean, sometimes when you are part of a group, was there anything that you observed like, wow, that's really... "I wouldn't do that." or something like that?

RY: Well, I never went with them but I heard they got in a few fights with other groups in the camp, with chains and baseball bats and stuff. I said, "I'm not going to go on that," you know. I'm a lover not a fighter. [Laughs]

TI: And who would they fight? I mean --

RY: The other people in Tule.

TI: And what would they fight about?

RY: God only knows. just because they're from Manzanar or they didn't like the way they talked or, you know.

<End Segment 17> - Copyright © 2011 Densho. All Rights Reserved.